{"id":125796,"date":"2025-09-01T22:21:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-01T22:21:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/125796\/"},"modified":"2025-09-01T22:21:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-01T22:21:11","slug":"looking-back-at-lamoriellos-four-secretive-ny-islanders-signings-four-years-later","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/125796\/","title":{"rendered":"Looking back at Lamoriello’s four secretive NY Islanders signings four years later"},"content":{"rendered":"

Four years ago, after a quiet summer, GM\u00a0Lou Lamoriello\u00a0and the\u00a0New York Islanders\u00a0made a discreet announcement of a wave of multi-year signings that helped shape the roster for seasons to come. Anthony Beauvillier, Casey Cizikas, Kyle Palmieri, and Ilya Sorokin were all locked into new deals, each carrying its own expectations and long-term implications. The summer had come and gone with Lamoriello not announcing the signings individually, but rather maintaining secrecy around the particulars of each and choosing to announce them together. Now, with some contracts complete and others still in progress, it\u2019s worth assessing how each has aged.<\/p>\n

Anthony Beauvillier \u2013 3 years, $4.15M AAV\"Anthony<\/p>\n

Vegas Golden Knights v New York Islanders | Bruce Bennett\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Beauvillier\u2019s contract was a classic bridge deal, giving the winger time to prove his consistency as a top-six forward. While he produced in flashes, he never cemented himself as a long-term solution and was ultimately included in the trade that brought Bo Horvat to Long Island. The deal didn\u2019t burden the team, but it didn\u2019t elevate them either. Beauvillier has bounced around a lot since this deal, having played with four additional teams: Nashville, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Washington.<\/p>\n

He showed the Capitals enough during the playoffs where he earned himself a two-year contract this off-season. For Islanders fans, although he didn’t rise to his potential on Long Island, he will be forever remembered scoring one of the most memorable goals in the post-dynasty era, the OT game-winner against the Tampa Bay Lightning to close out the Nassau Coliseum.<\/p>\n

Casey Cizikas \u2013 6 years, $2.5M AAV\"Casey<\/p>\n

Minnesota Wild v New York Islanders | Andrew Mordzynski\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

At six years, the term was lengthy, but the $2.5M cap hit was extremely team-friendly. Cizikas has remained the heartbeat of the Islanders\u2019 bottom six. \u201cLong Island is my home and will always be my home. There was nowhere else I wanted to be. I want to retire an Islander. That\u2019s my goal and something I\u2019ll be real proud of when that day come,” said Cizikas after the signing.<\/p>\n

This versatile, energy-forward player anchored the \u201cIdentity Line\u201d with Clutterbuck and Martin for three more years and could also be asked to play winger on a scoring line when asked. This deal has stood the test of time, providing the Isles with stability without breaking the bank. \u201cThese guys are my family. I\u2019ve created friendships that will last a lifetime,\u201d Cizikas said. \u201cI\u2019m going to die an Islander. That\u2019s the way to put it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kyle Palmieri \u2013 4 years, $5.0M AAV\"Kyle<\/p>\n

Winnipeg Jets v New York Islanders | Bruce Bennett\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

Palmieri\u2019s extension followed his strong performance during the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2021, but the $5M price tag at times, has felt heavy. Fans view his signing as the team choosing between Jordan Eberle, who was left unprotected in the expansion draft and the more physical Palmieri. I had a good feeling that things were going to work out here,\u201d the 30-year-old Palmieri said after the signing. \u201cObviously the goal of our team is no secret. We want to win the Stanley Cup. \u2026 I\u2019m excited to spend the next four years here.” <\/p>\n

After battling injuries in the first two seasons, he has remained a steady veteran presence and a valuable secondary scorer, capable of scoring 25-30 goals. That’s the reason Lamoriello elected not to trade him at the March trade deadline and why his two-year contract extension was the first piece of business announced by new GM Mathieu Darche.<\/p>\n

Ilya Sorokin \u2013 3 years, $4.0M AAV\"Ilya<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Lightning v New York Islanders | Bruce Bennett\/GettyImages<\/p>\n

The Isles secured Sorokin at a bargain price, and he blossomed into one of the NHL\u2019s elite goaltenders over the span of the deal. It set the stage for his long-term extension and gave the Islanders security in goal. How the eight-year extension plays out is still a “TBD” with Sorokin unable to recapture the brilliance of his 2022-23 season over the last two seasons. He’s still capable of being among the NHL elite goaltenders, especially if he gets more help from the team in front of him and a better penalty kill, but his bottom is a top 10-15 goalie in the league, which means it’s unlikely, especially with a rising salary cap, that his contract will ever look bad.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Four years ago, after a quiet summer, GM\u00a0Lou Lamoriello\u00a0and the\u00a0New York Islanders\u00a0made a discreet announcement of a wave…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":125797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-125796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/125797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}